Senior’s quick pin highlights Senior Night romp at Tabor
Slimmer Torres no lightweight
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| Rock Falls' Tiburcio Cervantes wrestles IVC's Kyle Cox in 138-pound match during Tuesday's dual at Tabor Gym. Cervantes won a 14-3 major decision, and the Rockets won the dual 64-12. (Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com) |
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ROCK FALLS – Josiah Torres is coming into his own.
Torres' 31-second pin helped Rock Falls cruise to a 64-12 nonconference Senior Night dual win over Illinois Valley Central on Wednesday at Tabor Gym.
The dual was a quick one, about an hour, with seven contested matches. The Rockets (20-5) won four of the seven, three by pin and one by major decision.
Rock Falls is two wins away from tying the school record of 22 and has a regular season-ending double-dual with Newman and Stillman Valley tonight at Stillman Valley.
Torres (23-8), a 220-pound senior, is a lot lighter and a lot better.
"From my sophomore year to now I think I've progressed pretty good," he said. "As a sophomore, I had a lot of learning to do. Last year I struggled too. This year I feel like this is my breakout year.
"Dropping weight has helped. I just dropped to 220 a couple weeks ago. I started the season at 250. It's a comforting feeling, because when I faced heavyweights, they were manhandling me. Now, I feel like I'm manhandling other people."
On Wednesday, Torres manhandled IVC's Aaron Kirchner, getting a quick takedown and turning it into a pin just 31 seconds into the action. It was the first contested match of the night.
Rock Falls' 160-pounder Matt Mammosser (19-13) nearly matched Torres in the final contested match, pinning Jake Lauber in 40 seconds.
The Rockets' Carlos Gutierrez (26-4), ranked third at 113, pinned Nick Ransom in 3:42 at 126 pounds.
Rock Falls' other contested match victory came from Tibs Cervantes, No. 13 at 132, who cruised to a 14-3 major decision over Kyle Cox.
"I'm just recovering from an ankle injury, so I was trying to put more pressure on it to get it back where it should be," Cervantes (23-6) said.
Cervantes is enjoying a banner senior season.
"It's probably the best season of my high school career," he said. "I beat the No. 6-ranked kid, and then I beat the No. 10, which kind of messed up the rankings for Illinois Matmen. I like being the upsetter."
Rock Falls coach Derick Cox would have liked to see more of his wrestlers in action, especially Shawn Skinner, who was awarded a forfeit at 195.
"We were hoping to get the matchup with Skinner and [Jordan] Ladd for a rematch from the Princeton Tournament [final]," Cox said. Skinner is No. 3 in 1A and Ladd No. 10 in 2A. "Skinner lost that one. He wanted that one tonight, but [Ladd] wasn't in the lineup.
"The guys that stepped on the mat did what they had to do. They were clean, and they were aggressive."
Star of the meet: Josiah Torres, Rock Falls, 31-second pin
Key performers: Matt Mammosser, Rock Falls, 40-second pin; Carlos Gutierrez, Rock Falls, pin; Tibs Cervantes, Rock Falls, major decision
Up next: Rock Falls, Newman at Stillman Valley, 5:30 p.m. today
